Menchville's presence felt on Pilots' pitching staff

HAMPTON — — Just into the second half of the season, the Peninsula Pilots need arms, preferably healthy and lively. Two pitchers coach Hank Morgan was counting on were shut down by their college coach. Two more are injured.

Ethan Carter just happened to be in the neighborhood, and he signed with the Pilots last week. And in something of an anomaly, that makes three former Menchville pitchers — Austin Chrismon and Deshorn Lake already were there — on a staff that is still pretty short-handed.

"If I'm not mistaken, I don't think we've ever had three kids from the Peninsula District here at the same time," Morgan said. "Now, we have three from the same team."

Chrismon was the first to arrive once East Carolina was eliminated from the NCAA tournament. He's been what Morgan hoped, a workhorse who despite a later arrival leads the team in innings (27 2/3) and wins (three). Lake came on three weeks after the MLB draft and in his first outing threw 7 1/3 shutout innings.

Carter debuted Tuesday in relief against Petersburg and, despite giving up the lead, got the win. He closed Friday's victory over the Generals with a perfect ninth.

"He looked good," Morgan said of Carter. "I think he's going to help us. We're going to help each other."

As far as graduating classes at Menchville go, they're each a year apart — Carter (2009), Chrismon ('10) and Lake ('11). And they took different paths here.

Carter's was the hardest. He played his freshman season at South Carolina and was a contributor out of the bullpen as the Gamecocks won the 2010 national title. But the following January, he was dismissed from the team for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Carter landed at Louisburg (N.C.) College, a two-year school where he went 9-3 with a 1.75 ERA. But when he went to the mound at War Memorial on Tuesday, it was his first time in a competitive situation since the first week of May.

"I was actually surprised the ball was coming out of my hand as well as it was," he said. "I thought it would be more time before I felt that comfortable."

Carter missed out on South Carolina's repeat championship, but he's hoping to return to Columbia next month.

"They had some guys (go) in the draft that need to sign officially before they can offer me a scholarship," Carter said. "If not, I've been exploring a couple of Division II schools and even Christopher Newport."

Chrismon, who only threw 18 2/3 innings as a freshman at ECU, is looking for a chance to build up his arm before the fall. In his last start, July 3 against Outer Banks, he went seven innings and gave up two earned runs.

"I'm looking to go back to college next year and throw more innings, so this should prepare me," said Chrismon, who went 22-3 in three seasons at Menchville. "This summer, I'm hoping to get 50 (innings) just so I can extend that longer."

Chrismon also likes the competition he's going against.

"I've seen kids from all kinds of D-I schools, like UNC, N.C. State, bigger schools like that," he said. "Wood bats give a little bit of an advantage to the pitchers, but they're starting to swing them better now."

As for Lake, an East Carolina signee who was drafted in the 12th round by the Boston Red Sox, the step up in competition is a big plus. With a fastball that hit consistently in the low 90s, Lake went 15-4 with 131 strikeouts in 98 1/3 innings in two seasons at Menchville. But this is a different level.

In his debut win with the Pilots, Lake allowed three harmless singles in 7 1/3 innings. But in his next start, he gave up 10 hits and eight earned runs in 3 1/3.

"I had one really good start and one really bad one," Lake said. "I'm getting used to not dominating every game like you do in high school. It's a little bit more of the real world."

As for the Red Sox, Lake is in wait-and-see mode.

"They're monitoring me over the summer," he said. "And hopefully, if I perform the way they want, we'll see what happens and go from there. If Boston doesn't like what I do over the summer, I'll just be (an ECU) Pirate. That's no problem for me."

Morgan has no problem keeping Lake around. He and Chrismon have become the core of the rotation.

"Both of those guys are absolute workhorses," he said. "And for us, having to go out there at this late juncture and fill a couple of spots in the rotation, it's really important to have two anchors like those guys."

If you think having three Menchville pitchers on the Pilots' roster is unusual, consider this: It could be four or even five in a couple of weeks. Jharel Cotton and Matt Armstead, who along with Chrismon and Carter played on the Monarchs' 2009 state championship team, are under consideration.

Cotton just completed his second season at Miami-Dade College and was taken in the 28th round of the draft by the New York Mets. He's been rehabilitating an elbow injury this summer but says he might be ready to pitch by the end of July.

Armstead was Carter's teammate at Louisburg College last spring and went 7-3.